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By Scott Wong (
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TEA PARTY FORCES HOUSE GOP TO SWITCH UP IMMIGRATION STRATEGY - POLITICO's Jake Sherman and Seung Min Kim report on the chaos over the House border bill as Congress prepares to break for the August recess: "House Republicans will vote to rein in the Obama administration's power to halt deportation for undocumented immigrants - a surprise move that comes as they struggle to attract support for their bill to address the crisis at the border. The new plan, described by multiple GOP aides Wednesday evening, comes as House Republicans were unable to lock up 218 GOP lawmakers to vote for the $659 million emergency funding package.

-- "On Wednesday evening, House GOP leadership was setting up a process that would schedule a Thursday vote on the Republican funding package. If it passes, the House would be required to vote on legislation targeting the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which has shielded from deportation hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants who have grown up in the United States."
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ONCE AGAIN, TED CRUZ appeared to be the driving force behind the House's change in strategy. The tea party senator, often blamed for last fall's government shutdown, was lobbying House conservatives to vote against the original border package, which did not include the deportation provision. "The effort by Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.), who made his pitch to a group of House Republicans in a closed-door evening meeting, marked another direct shot at attempts by Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) to deal with the influx of illegal immigrants arriving from Central America. ..." Ed O'Keefe and Robert Costa write for the Washington Post.

-- "[A] defeat of border legislation in the House would deliver another embarrassing blow to Boehner and his leadership team, which has struggled to contain the party's restive tea party caucus. It also would serve as the latest example of Cruz wading into House affairs and working against the agenda of GOP leaders."
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HOUSE VOTES TO SUE OBAMA - Lauren French reports for the hometown paper: "The House voted along party lines Wednesday to move forward with a lawsuit against President Barack Obama, escalating tension between the executive and legislative branches months before the pivotal midterm elections. The 225-201 vote authorizes Speaker John Boehner to take Obama to court on behalf of the House for delaying a provision in the health care overhaul that requires that most employers provide insurance to their workers. Republicans see the delay as a clear example of Obama overstepping his executive authority. ... All Democrats opposed the measure.

-- "The lawsuit gives Republicans the chance to go on offense and gin up their base by highlighting what they see as executive overreach. But that strategy is becoming more complicated as Democrats and White House officials argue the lawsuit is merely the first step in a broader battle against Obama that could result in impeachment proceedings."
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THE HOUSE VOTED 420-5 to approve a compromise bill to overhaul the beleaguered Veterans Affairs Department, Rebecca Bratek reports for the L.A. Times: "The [$16.3 billion] reform measure still needs to be approved by the Senate before it can be sent to the president's desk. Lawmakers have been racing to agree on a package before their scheduled August break. Senate leaders have said they hope to pass their version on Thursday, but a vote wasn't scheduled as of Wednesday afternoon."
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IOWA, N.H. ... HARRY REID'S NEVADA - POLITICO's Manu Raju has the story: "Potential Democratic presidential candidates have a must-stop this campaign season: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's backyard. At Reid's request, Vice President Joe Biden helped fill the coffers last week of a Nevada Democratic congressional candidate and his state party's political apparatus, a central cog in the Senate majority leader's political machine. A couple of months earlier, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley reached out to Reid's team to let the majority leader know he would be the main speaker at a Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner in Las Vegas ... In September, Hillary Clinton will deliver the keynote address at
Reid's annual clean energy summit at the Mandalay Bay hotel ...

--"The decision to swing through Nevada two years before campaign season ... highlights an indisputable fact: No matter how unpopular Reid is with Republicans, leading Democrats are eager to woo the powerful majority leader with a long memory and reputation for loyalty."
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HOUSE BETS SENATE WILL BLINK OVER HIGHWAY GAME OF CHICKEN - POLITICO's Adam Snider and Kevin Robillard have the latest: "Despite a few bumps, the end of the road in the latest Highway Trust Fund saga is near, with the Senate likely on the losing end of the battle over how long to extend programs and how much money to provide. The House is expected to take up a Senate-passed trust fund patch on Thursday, the final day the chamber is slated to meet before lawmakers leave town for the August recess. And right now the clock - and the votes - don't stack up in the Senate's favor. Not only is the recess looming, but the Department of Transportation has said it will start cutting highway
reimbursements to states on Friday if Congress doesn't act by then. Several senior House Republicans - including Speaker John Boehner and Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) - have said the chamber will simply pass the original House bill that was approved two weeks ago." More for Pros: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a5d2919dd2e6367111fb0c87213af451ea38dabcc86c627e5b42fa6d0affd242

GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, JULY 31, 2014, and welcome to The Huddle, your play-by-play preview of all the action on Capitol Hill. Send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to
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TODAY IN CONGRESS - The Senate meets at 9:30 a.m. and will continue work on legislation to deal with the migrant children crisis on the border. Votes are expected but not currently scheduled. The House meets at 9 a.m. and is expected to vote to amend a Senate-passed bill so that the Highway Trust Fund is financed through next May.

AROUND THE HILL - Sen. Chris Coons holds a pen-and-pad briefing on the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit at 9 a.m. in Russell 127A. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi holds her weekly press conference at 10 a.m. in HVC Studio A. Speaker John Boehner follows with his briefing at 11:30 a.m. in the same location.

SENATE REPORT: SECRETARY OF STATE POWELL KEPT IN DARK ABOUT CIA PRACTICES - The AP has the scoop after the White House accidentally emailed the report to one of its reporters: "A Senate report on the CIA's interrogation and detention practices after the 9/11 attacks concludes that the agency initially kept the secretary of state [Colin Powell] and some U.S. ambassadors in the dark about harsh techniques and secret prisons, according to a document circulating among White House staff. The still-classified report also says some ambassadors who were informed about interrogations of Al Qaeda detainees at so-called black sites in their countries were instructed not to tell their superiors at
the State Department, says the document, which the White House accidentally emailed to an Associated Press reporter.
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CAN DesJARLAIS OVERCOME SCANDAL? - The Hill's Jessica Taylor reports from Cleveland, Tenn.: "Against all odds, embattled Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.) could be headed back to Congress next year. The GOP physician looked like he would be booted from office in late 2012 after revelations that he had pushed his ex-wife to have two abortions and carried on affairs with patients, one of whom he urged to terminate a pregnancy. The socially conservative congressman drew a strong primary opponent this year in state Sen. Jim Tracy (R), and many in the GOP privately say they are rooting for the challenger, because it would rid the party of another member of its 'scandal caucus.' But despite
DesJarlais being seen as one of the cycle's most endangered incumbents, more than a half-dozen strategists with deep Tennessee ties say the contest is far closer than expected ahead of the Aug. 7 primary."
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FARMERS TARGET HUELSKAMP - The AP's Roxana Hegeman in Wichita, Kan.: "Eleven biofuel plants dot the vast expanse of western and central Kansas, where farm fields stretch to the horizon and corn and sorghum are the backbone of the rural economy. So when the Republican congressman who represents the area co-sponsored a bill that would cut demand for biofuels by phasing out a federal renewable energy program, many of his rural constituents took note. Their anger is now coming back to haunt U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp in the waning days before the Aug. 5 GOP primary. Huelskamp, a tea party favorite and Kansas farmer known for his criticism of the GOP leadership in Washington, is locked in an
unexpectedly tough race with a political novice as he seeks a third two-year term. His challenger, Alan LaPolice, a farmer and educator, supports the renewable energy standards, which mandate a percentage of renewable fuels in gasoline."
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LERNER: SOME IN GOP '---HOLES,' 'CRAZIES' - POLITICO's Rachael Bade reports: "Ex-IRS official Lois Lerner refers to some Republicans as "a-holes" and "crazies" in an exchange from 2012, according to emails released by House Republicans on Wednesday. ... Although Lerner doesn't say 'Republican' or 'conservative' in the particular emails, she and the unnamed person were discussing conservative talk radio hosts. ... Republicans say the new emails further their argument that Lerner - whose division singled out tea party groups seeking tax breaks for additional scrutiny - was biased, arguing in a news release that the exchange 'directly demonstrates Ms. Lerner's deep animus towards
conservatives.' Democrats have called the relentless focus by the GOP a partisan witch hunt."
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BIPARTISAN SENATORS ROLL OUT BILL TO CURB CAMPUS SEX ASSAULTS - Jennifer Steinhauer reports for the NYT: "A bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday introduced legislation designed to curb the startling number of sexual assaults on college campuses. The measure would require schools to make public the result of anonymous surveys concerning assault on campuses, and impose significant financial burdens on universities that fail to comply with some of the law's requirements. 'Very rarely does a bill become a truly collaborative process, and this bill has been truly collaborative and bipartisan,' said Senator Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri, who has spent the last several months
studying the problem of sexual assault on campus. ... The bill attracted a diverse group of co-sponsors, including Ms. McCaskill, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, and Senator Kelly Ayotte, Republican of New Hampshire, as well as other members of both parties."
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WEDNESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - We had a tie: Riley Swinehart and Ben Goodman both correctly answered just seconds apart that the name of Six Flags amusement park is derived from the and is named for the Six Flags Over Texas theme park, a reference to the six nations that have ruled Texas throughout its history.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Ken Leach has today's question: Which state was the first to replace a statue in the Capitol's Statuary Hall Collection?The first person to send the correct answer to
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